The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-08
TALMAGE ON INSURANCE.
JOSEPH THE PRESIDENT OF THE
FIRST COMPANY.


Famine the Reward Paid to Policy
holders-A Sermon Which Should be
Run as an Advertisement by the In
surance Companies.
THE HAMPToNs, Aug. THE Rev. T.
Dewitt Talmage's sermon for to-day was
on the important subject of ''Life and Fire
Insurance; the Christian Principles In
volved" His text was: LET him appoint
officers over the land, and take up the fifth
part of the land Of Egypt in the seven
plenteous years. .n-Genesis xii. v 81.
These were the words of Joseph, the
President of the first life insurance COM
pany that the world ever saw Pharaoh had
a dream that distracted him. He thought
he stood on the banks of the river Nile, and
saw coming up out of the river, seven fat
sleek, glossy cows, and they began to
browse in the thick grass. Nothing fright
full about that. But after them, coming out
of the same river, he saw seven cows that
were gaunt and starved, aud the worst look
ing cows that had ever been seen in the
land, and in the ferocity of hunger
they devoured their seven fat
predecessors. Pharaoh, the King,
sent for Joseph to decipher these midnight
hieroglyphics. Joseph made short work of
it, and intimated the seven fat cows that
came out of the river are seven years with
plenty to eat, the seven emaciated cows
that followed them, are seven years with
nothing to eat. "Now," said Joseph, ''let
us take one-fifth of the corn crop of the
seven prosperous years, and keep it as a pro-
vision for the seven years in which there
shall be no corn crop" The King took the
counsel and appointed Joseph, because of
his integrity and public-spiritedness, as the
president of the undertaking. The
farmers paid one-fifth OF tEeir income as q
premium. In all the towns and cities of the
land there were branch houses. This great
Egyptian life insurance company had mil
lions of dollars as assets After awhile the
dark days came, and the whole nation
would have starved if it had not been for
the provision they had made for the future
But now these suffering families had moth
ing to do but go up and collect the amount
of their life policies. The Bible puts it in
one short phrase: I'm all the land of Egypt
there was bread" say this was the first
life insurance company. 1t was divinely
organized. 1t had in it ali the advantages
of the ''whole life plan,n of the ''tontine
plan" of the reserved endowment plan,n
and all the other good plans. We are told
that Rev. Dr. Anhate, of Lincolnshire, Eng
land, originated the first life insurance com
pany in 1898. No! 1t is as old as the corn
author and originator. Ii that were not so
| would not take your time and mine in
Sabbath discussion of this subject feel it
is a theme vital, religious and of infinite inn
port, the morals of life and fire Insurance
About ten or twelve years ago there was
great panic in life insurance which did
good. Under the storm the unt,ustworthy
and bogus institutions were scattered, while
the genuine were tested and firmly estab-
lished, and where does the Life Insurance
Institution stand to-day? What amount of
comfort. of education of moral and spir-
itual advantage is represented in the simple
statistics that in this country the life insur-
ance companies in one year paid seven mil
lion dollars to the families of the bereft; and
in five years they paid three hundred mil
lions of dollars to the families of the bereft
and are promising to pay-and hold them
selves in readiness to pay-two thousand
millions of dollars to the families of the
bereftl
They have actually paid out more in divi-
dends and death claims than they have ever
received in premiums. l know of what
speak. The life insurance companies of this
country paid more than seven millions of
dollars OF taxes to the government in five
years. So, instead of these companies being
indebted to the land, the land is indebted
to them. To cry out against life insurance
because here and there one company has be-
haved badly is as absurd as it would be for
a man to burn down q thousand acres of
harvest field in order to kill the moles and
potato bugs-as preposterous as n man who
should blow up crowded steamer in mid
Atlantic for the purpose of destroying the
barnacles on the bottom of the hulk.
But what does the Bible say in regard to
this subjectl If the Bible favors the insti-
tuition, / will favor it: if the Bible de-
nounces it, will denounce it, In addition
to the forecast of Joseph in the text, | call
to your attention Paurs comparison. Here
is one man who, through neglect, fails to
support his family while he lives, or after
he dies. Here is another man, who abhors
tho Scriptures, and rejects God. Which of
those men is the worsei Well, you say, the
latter. Paul says the former. Paul says
that man who neglects to care for his
household is more obnoxious than man
who rejects the Scriptures: HE that pro-
videth not for his own. and especially those
of his own household, is worse than an in
fidel" Life insurance companies help most
of us TO provide for our families after we
are gone; but, if we have the money to pay
the premiums and do not pay them, we
have no right to expect mercy at the hand
of God in the Judgment. We are worse
than Tom Paine, worse than Voltaire, and
worse than Shaftesbury. The Bible de-
clares tive are worse than an infidel
After the certificate Of death has been made
out, and thirty or sixty days have passed,
and the officer of a life insurance company
comes into the bereft household, and pays
down the hard cash on an insurance policy,
that officer Of the company is performing
positively religious rite, according TO the
Apostle James. who says: True religion
and undefled before God and the. Father is
this: To visit the fatherless and the widow
in their affiiction," and SO on. The religion
of Christ proposes to take care of the tom
poral wants of the people as well as the
spiritual. When Hezekiah was dying the
injunction came to him: ''Set thy house in
order for thou shalt die and not live.n That
injunction in our day would mean: "Make
your will; settle up your accounts; make
things plain; don't deceive your heirs with
rolls of worthless mining stock; don't
deceive them with deeds for Western
lands that will never yield any crop but
chills and fever don't leave for them notes
that have been Outlawed, and second mort
cages on property that viii not pay the
first.n "Set thy house in order" Tint is,
fix up things, so your going out OF the world
may make as little congternation as possible.
See the lean cattle devouring the fat cattle,
and in the time of plenty prepare for the
time OF want The difficulty IL, when men
think of their death, they are afraid 10 think
of IL only In connection with their spiritual
welfare, and not Of the devastation in the
household which will come because of their
emigration from 1t. IL Is meanly selfish for
you to be so absorbed In the heaven to which